Central New York Neighbors May Share Cost, Benefits Of Going Solar

There’s going to be a new way to go solar in central New York. Solarize CNY Communities, the organization that’s helped install solar energy in several homes across central New York in recent years, is moving from rooftop arrays to making it a community affair.

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Solarize CNY Communities project coordinator Katelyn Kriesel says all it takes for a resident to take advantage of solar power in this community model, is for them to be in the same utility zone as the arrays that convert sunshine into energy.

“The array could be in Manlius, and someone in Baldwinsville could be using it,” said Kriesel.

This renewable energy model is called Shared Solar, made possible in New York state by a Public Service Commission order last year. The way it works says Kriesel, is a solar developer installs and owns an array, and Solarize CNY signs up homeowners who then would get energy credits on their utility bill.

“In central New York, everyone can just sign on the dotted line, and once the array is up and running, they’ll see a decrease in their energy cost and will be getting energy from a renewable source.”

Kriesel expects this will provide many more opportunities for residents interested in renewable energy.

“We want to have at least one array in each county. But we could have two or three in each county if the interest is high enough, and we can find enough property that is appropriate.”

Last year, enough homeowners installed rooftop solar arrays to add two megawatts of solar power to the grid. This community model is expected to exceed that number substantially according to Kreisel.

"This is the future of solar. Instead of having one-offs where one house goes solar in a neighborhood and one house goes solar somewhere else, we’ll have one big array, or dozens of big arrays that can have dozens of households go solar at a time,” said Kriesel.

The latest drive for Solarize CNY is the largest campaign the grassroots solarize group has tackled, moving beyond Onondaga County into surrounding counties. And since this latest push started, more than 700 homeowners have signed up for a site assessment to look at the feasibility of a solar system on their property. But while the solarize movement has been successful so far, there are concerns about the future.

In a move expected to drive down costs to the industry, Natcore Technology says it has developed a way to swap silver for aluminum in its solar cells. Silver is a highly conductive metal, and that efficiency is one reason it has been used in solar cells for nearly 60 years. When sunlight hits a silicon cell, it generates electrons, and silver has been used to collect these electrons in order to form a useful electric current. But it is also expensive, and that’s why Natcore has been working on eliminating silver from the mass production process of the all-back-contact silicon cells. READ MORE...

The Broome County Legislature has temporarily shelved a deal with California company, SolarCity, to build a solar panel project for the county. Matt Martin reports that some legislators are concerned because the company is under investigation by the federal government.

The deal with SolarCity would help reduce energy costs for the county. The deal got unanimous approval in the county’s Economic, Education, and Culture Committee, before it was known that the company was part of a federal investigation.